


Stranded

by misura



Category: Star of the Guardians - Margaret Weis
Genre: F/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-25
Updated: 2013-05-25
Packaged: 2017-12-14 10:58:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/836148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"We'll be fine, Platus," said Maigrey, sounding calm and in control as usual. As she would sound, had she not just made an emergency landing on an uncharted planet due to 'computer trouble'.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stranded

Sagan hadn't wanted to come. _For her sake,_ he told himself.

Maigrey might be too naive, too idealistic to be aware of the rumors, but Sagan knew very well what was being said about him and her and the relationship between them. The mindlink.

 _We're already too close._ Princess Semele seemed to think so, at any rate - and for whatever reason, Maigrey seemed to value the silly woman's opinion. _If not to the point where she actually listens to her advice,_ Sagan thought wryly. That, after all, would have made his life a good deal easier, and _that_ , clearly, would never do.

It was probably a good thing that 'living an easy life' did not rank particularly high on his list of ambitions.

_And she might actually have computer trouble._

He didn't think it likely. Maigrey was almost as brilliant with computers as she was with planes, and even in the Golden Squadron, Maigrey stood out as an exceptional pilot.

 _Almost as good as I am._ It wasn't arrogance. It was simple fact. It was one more thing that bound them together, threw them in each other's company.

On most days, in truth, he was glad of it, glad to find her by his side.

"Will the two of you be all right down there?" Platus, who was probably the best option, under the circumstances, for all that he was Maigrey's brother.

He would talk, of course - it was inevitable. Unlike Tusca, though, he wouldn't make any judgment - and unlike Stavros, Platus could probably be relied upon to stick to the bare facts.

"We'll be fine, Platus." Maigrey, sounding calm and in control as usual. As she would sound, had she not just made an emergency landing on an uncharted planet due to 'computer trouble'.

Sagan could have left her by herself. She was capable - more than capable of defending herself against anything this planet might harbor. Too, he might have sent Platus to assist her.

_In case of real trouble, he would have been more of hindrance than a help to her. Someone she'd feel she needed to protect._

That small, nagging doubt was what had driven him to volunteer himself. Only that. A perfectly acceptable concern any Commander would feel for one under his command.

Sagan sighed. _If I can't even lie to myself, how can I keep_ her _from finding out the truth?_

 

It was impossible to tell if Maigrey was secure in the knowledge that her computer was, in fact, fine, or if she was simply confident she and Sagan would be able to fix it.

Sagan might have looked into her mind to find out the truth, but he didn't think he would be able to do so without allowing her to see into his own mind in return, and so it seemed best to follow her lead for the moment.

He nodded in all the right places and put an expression of mild but sincere concern on his face. It helped that _if_ Maigrey's computer was, in fact, defect, it would likely take considerable time to fix. During that time, she would be given another plane to fly, naturally, but it wouldn't be _her_ plane. For an ordinary pilot, the difference might have been minimal; for Maigrey, it might slow her down just that tiniest fraction of a second that marked the difference between success and failure.

 

There was no reason why he should not spend the remainder of the night in his own plane. It would not be precisely comfortable - the Golden Squadron's planes had not been designed with overnight stays on uncharted planets in mind, but it would serve well enough.

No reason, except - "My lord," Maigrey said softly. Her mind brushed against his.

He might have turned away. "My lady." It would have felt like cowardice, though, like he was less daring than she. _Less foolish, perhaps,_ he thought wryly, and too late. She had seen already.

"With some few additional blankets, I believe we might be quite comfortable." There was a very faint flush to her cheeks. Sagan discovered that it annoyed him. Maigrey was magnificent when angry; breathtakingly beautiful when determined. She was a warrior and a soldier, not some fragile, courtly flower.

She was also, he realized, in the process of seducing him.

"My lord." There was a rather strong hint of reproach in that voice.

"I apologize," he said. He couldn't quite remember the last time he'd apologized to anyone. (Neither, it seemed, could she, given that no gentle reminder came through the mindlink.) "Shall I get the extra blankets from my plane?"

"If you wish."

He opened his mind to her, keeping hidden only those parts of it she wasn't ready to see yet. (Eventually, he would tell her about Robes, and their plans. Now was not the time for such things.) "I wish, my lady. Deeply."

"Good," she said, not blushing again.


End file.
